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Friday, November 4, 2011

Some Random Pictures Taken with My New Camera & Blogiversary

I received my new camera via FedEx about a week and a half ago and what a special treat/pain it has been for me. This is my Christmas present-a wee bit early-and it has been fun snapping new photos in the gardens but also stressful for me. I do not like learning new things and my old Kodak EasyShare DX6440 made things very easy for me. Alas, days of ease are no more. I must now learn a completely different system and my hair is turning grayer by the minute!

'Sunny' Knockout rose

The good news is I am slowly figuring things out with the camera and software. I have found that my old EasyShare software will edit my new photos from the Nikon. That's good news for ease of use but I really can't do much to the photos; which was part of the reason I bought a new camera. The main reason I bought a new camera was that my Kodak finally gave up the ghost. I went to use it and the lens would not open no matter what I did. At any rate I've been experimenting with my new Nikon Coolpix P500 and here are some random photos with the new camera. I still have a few posts left with photos from the old camera but within a week or so I'll only be posting pictures from the new Nikon. I am hoping to take a photography class or to read more about photography so I can utilize more features of the camera but again, the learning curve will be steep.

The fabulous yellow button mums have begun blooming. The color of the day in Tiger Gardens is yellow! And that is not a mellow yellow. These mums actually are arranged in hedges in my gardens. They grow very tall and do well in the sun or shade. They provide lots of green foliage when not in bloom and make the transition between the shrubs and lower growing perennials. The glass mosaic pictured here is one of two that grace my gardens. I made these back in 2009, actually very early in 2009 and both are still holding up marvelously. I can't imagine my gardens without them. It is hard for me to believe it has been nearly three years since I made them. More on them in Monday's post.

Bottle Tree and Glass Wheel on the back fence. The pond is not on my property though it looks like it is right there. There is a slightly sloping hill down to Mr. C's pond then back up on the other side to more gently rolling hills. We simply love this view especially when the sun sets since this view faces due west. The 36X zoom on my new camera really brought the pond and bottle tree up close.

My gigantic camellia and coral bark Japanese maple are providing me tons of late season color. This combination was most fortuitous for me.

My new best pal 'Lady Lou'. She has finally been contained to our yard by an underground fence. I can't recommend these fences enough. When Lady was first shocked it affected her so much she now remembers her boundaries and we can't even drag her close to the underground fence. Although she occasionally forgets those boundaries when chasing one of the billion chipmunks we have living here. I can just picture the chipmunk snickering behind the fence (Lady's boundary) while Lady is shocked and upset about the whole situation. Lady stops chasing the chipmunk needless to say. I then try to take her collar off so she can chase the rodents but by this point she is so traumatized by the shocks she won't come near me. At any rate she recovers quickly enough and has not escaped the yard since we installed the underground fence.

This picture is of 'Miss Gloria's Thanksgiving Day' mum. It is a mouthful to say. I belive this mum is a 'Sheffield' type mum but this mum is quite tall and needs staking. It is a very pretty magenta color and blooms about two weeks later than the 'Sheffields'.I decided on a SuperZoom class of cameras. This camera is a point and shoot and is the least expensive class of cameras you can buy. There is a wide range of camera models in this class of cameras but one thing I do not need to worry about is changing lens-the lens are not changeable in the superzooms (to the best of my knowledge). The camera I choose was a Nikon CoolPix P500. I chose it because it was number 1 in its category and had a super zoom (36X) that I thought would be great for long distance and macro shots-oops-more on that in a minute. I also liked that it has a CMOS processor and takes high definition movies. All in all I've been happy with it until I tried to take macros. Here is the thing, this camera is rated high for macros but I simply don't have the knowledge or skill to understand how it all works. I think I have figured out a great zoom is not so good for macros but it kicks butt when trying to see objects far away. That is good but the macro thing has me down since I just can't figure it all out. Even without macros I think this camera takes some nice clear shots. I have not retouched any of these photos. They are clear and true to how they were taken. Of course, I never was one for editing pictures. Just can't figure it out and it is ever so frustrating. The 'Sheffield mums' are big bloomers in my garden along with regular cushion style mums. They and the asters are providing all the color for me this fall.

It seemed like this crepe myrtle right outside of my computer room window turned red overnight. What is funny is that it is one amongst four white crepe myrtles and none of the other three show any sign of turning brilliantly like this one has.

Our first real frost of the season hit the night of October 28th. Even then it was a light frost. I decided to snap a few pictures after the frost and before the sun came up to really show the damage. At this point the pineapple sages and flowering tobacco were holding steady (and are still holding steady thanks to the wonderful covering of mature trees sheltering Tiger Gardens).

This monarch appeared to be hibernating in the very cold grass. We still have lots of monarchs here that are probably not going to make it to their winter homes in Mexico. I picked this one up and placed it on the asters in the sun. I hope she heads south soon as more frosts are expected. It was a delight to hold this monarch that appeared to be dead but as she warmed from my skin she slowly began moving around.

The leaves on the oak tree hanging down at the back of our property made a nice contrast with Mr. C's large farm behind the house. This picture probably speaks more of winter than fall but since it is was so close to Halloween I thought spooky.

Changing gears now to this blog's four year anniversary. I briefly thought about this blog's FOUR year anniversary but didn't mention it back in September when the date came and went. The magic date was September 21st, 2007. As of today this blog has published 1181 blog articles/posts. I won't even attempt to count the visitors and commenters which have made this blog most fun for us all here at In the Garden. I can tell you I personally appreciate hearing about all of your gardens and learning about the different parts of the world and hearing about different perspectives on gardening. Blogging has been a real great ride for me and I wouldn't change a thing if I had to do it all over again. So here's to a few more years at....

In the Garden....and Happy 4 years plus to this blog and to me learning a new camera and how to use it!

Lastly, the Mexican butterfly weed is still going strong here in Tiger Gardens. So far we've only had light frosts and very little was damaged by them.

27 comments:

Love all the colors in this post. The trees, those wonderful mums, your stained glass piece which is great, your bottle tree.

There is always a learning curve with new tools. I still don't know all that my camera can do and I've had it at least a couple of years. I wanted it for it's macro capabilities and love it for that. I'd like to try a little video one of these days.

Some of your pictures are cut off, so I don't know what happened there, but from what I can see it is beautiful there at Tiger Gardens. Enjoy the autumn season.

Congrats on the new camera and blogaversary Tina. I'm on my second Nikon Coolpix and I love them. :) Wow 4 years! I hit 3 this past May and forgot to blog about it, lol. Here's to many years to come in the garden my friend. :)

Glad you got your new camera. I know lots of folks who have a Nikkon Coolpix and are happy with it. The challenge now is to get acquainted with all the functions! Have fun!Happy Bloggiversary to you, I am impressed not only with the number of years (4!) but the number of posts.....wow..big time wow!

Happy blogoversary! ANd the new camera seems to work really well--it'll have you trained in no time, ha ha ha. I literally LOL'd at reading "special treat/pain"--that can fit quite a few life situations, can't it?! :)

Happy Blogiversary! Your photos are wonderful. If you're having trouble with the macro, trying setting it on wide angle (assume that's a setting for your camera; I use Samsung and Canon) and make sure you don't have the zoom extended at all.

I'm really getting into mums and love your examples. As you say, green foliage and lots and lots of fall blooms. I now have a hedge on one side of our walk beside the front porch. I have a tall variety out in the deer resistant garden that I should have staked.

Congrats on 4 years of wonderful Chit Chat about Gardens, Family, Friend's and Pets! Wow, time flies when you are having fun...

Your pics look awesome and I know in time you will figure it all out. I am baffled by all the techno on anything new these days. I still dont know half the features my camera does and I have had it for years. I read the handbook but then forget the procedure when ready to use it. If I dont use it daily, I forget it. LOL…

And I knew those trees would shelter Tiger Gardens. Remember that conversation on Oct 28???

Tina, if you want to read some photography and/or editing books, I'd recommend anything by Scott Kelby. He has a down to earth style, he's kind of funny, and he's good at explaining complicated photography stuff in simple ways. My library had lots of his books - maybe yours does, too! Enjoy the new camera.

Flowerlady, My sidebar is too wide for large photos and some of the photo gets cut off. I do need to fix it soon.

Darla, So glad!!

Racquel, Thanks so much. I remember when you began blogging I sure do. Hey, We-Du Nursery is having a big sale on the paniculata hydrangeas. You must check them out since you love 'Limelight' so much. They have some new cultivars.

Janet, That is indeed the challenge and I hate it that I can't figure out how to use it all. Yes, lots of posts for sure. With my partners helping me it has been fairly easy too but sometimes the pace is too much.

Monica, They need to install a talking feature so the camera can say something like "Put me on scene, f150, slow-dummy". That may be the way for me.

Freda, Now I have to ask how do you set a wide angle?? I really have no idea. The computer handbook is not much help either. I need to read those photography books VW recommended I think or meet up with you for a class!

Skeeter, I do indeed remember...so glad you were able to stop by for a quick chat. Found your beautyberry a few days later and it was right on that shelf. Duh!

Melanie, Are you guys under snow yet? Brrrrr-I hope not but if so I hope spring comes early to you next year.

Mom, I am a complete duntz when it comes to photography. It is all Chinese to me-truly. I just kind of stumble along as I can.

Tina - RE your question about scilla. I did see the seed pods. They were roundish, about the size of peas, cream-colored, papery with a tiny brown seed or few (can't remember) inside each one. They formed up and down the flower stalks, so the stalks had 6-8 pods each. They were fun to pop with my fingers so I could scatter the seeds around. My crocuses also sent up what I thought were deformed flowers in June - they looked like crocus buds but were more papery and had a bunch of tiny brown seeds inside. We had an unusually long, cool, wet spring last year. I wonder if that's why so many seeds were formed, since the leaves could survive for so long and put away so much energy before it got too hot and they dried up. Anyway, I should have taken pictures but just didn't. If it happens again I'll be sure to post about it! I hope yours will form seeds for you.

Happy 4th Birthday to your blog--I can't imagine keeping up with blogging for that long--congratulations. I have a Nikon Coolpix P5000 and am wondering if they are the same. To do macro, twist the dial on the top to "Scene". Then press the menu button on the back of the camera. Scroll up or down using the dial on the back (press the bottom of the dial to go down etc.) until "Close up" is highlighted, then press OK in the middle of the dial. Now as long as you are on Scene, it will be macro. To take regular shots twist the top dial back to the camera icon (green on my camera). I hope your camera works the same way. I highly recommend downloading Picasa from Goggle for free. It is so much better than the Nikon software and probably better than Kodak. Editing is so easy. You can always delete it if you don't like it. And I am just like you, I hate learning new technology and get very easily frustrated. Please ask me any questions about your camera and Picasa and let me know if this helped. My email is carolynsshadegardens@verizon.net.

You have so many beautiful photos in that post. Love the mosaic walls. New gadgets are always that way but will be worth it in the long run. I don't know if it's right or not, but I never use zoom when I am in macro or super macro. Just move in to the subject. Don't try to learn it all at once. Did you get a book with the camera or go on line and try getting a handle of one part at a time. The Thanksgiving mum is my favorite.

Tina, congratulations for your new toy! It is true that it is the process which is more thrilling, and the learning. I love most that first one because you have a free view of the next property, and it is clear to way back beyond. At least you don't need to work on it like your garden! Happy learning and discovering!

Tina, congratulations on your blog anniversary and the new camera. I dread it when hubby decides I need a new camera -ack...I have to relearn how to use all the bells and whistles he "thinks" I need, lol. I prefer a point and shoot -my subjects don't stay still for long. LOL And, your Lady Lou is kind of cute -she reminds me of a little fox, heheeh. (Only not red in color). Have a great weekend! Ciao

Just to say that when I bought my new camera it was close-ups that had me stumped so I bought an additional macro lens. The problem with macro is that if you get too close the image becomes blurred so you really need to back off a bit. To be honest I still use my compact camera if I want a real close-up as I can focus it quickly and when the object is moving there isn't time to fiddle with my other camera.

Four years...wow Tina...I hope to last that long....what an incredible milestone...I love the new camera and I think you are doing wonderfully learning...it took me a year just to get used to my point and click Canon Power Shot...I have been looking for a new camera...maybe a birthday present so I will consider this camera...I love that mosaic...your talents are many Tina...

Dear Tina, your photos are wonderful, I particularly like the one of poor Lady prisoner. It is a challenge learning technology, but if we keep trying I believe it is good for our brains - kind of like taking vitamins for the brain. You have given me much to think about. i hate changing lenses, and haven't figured out a lot about my camera. cheers and happy 4 years blogaversary, cm

The photos are looking great! Have fun learning your new camera (I am the same way about new things!) You will be happy when you feel you there THERE! Thanks for the comments on my blog--to you and to Skeeter! I appreciate it so much! Poor little Lady Lou. But you have tio keep her safe. Right?

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